Don't Rush the Inevitable
by 08joanna
Summary: Immediately post "97 Seconds," Wilson & House talk as House leaves the morgue.


House sadly muttered, "I'm sorry to say – I told you so," and then pulled the sheet over Stark's head. He stood over the corpse for another minute, and finally turned away to walk slowly out of the morgue. A stunned 13 had already left, and there was nothing more to say to her anyway. House felt the sudden weight of sorrow and responsibility, and was ready to just go home and drown in it for a while. He looked up as he was leaving the morgue, and Wilson was standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall and waiting for him.

"I'm leaving," House said, not really in the mood for another Wilson lecture.

"Want some company?" Wilson asked.

"Why? So you can get on my case about the idiocy of my hiring practices and costing the patient his life? Don't bother -- I already heard the riot act from Cuddy."

"No. That wasn't my plan. I just thought you might not be able to drive with that hand, and I'd give you a lift home."

"My hand's fine."

"Okay, then how's your head?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know the whole electrocution thing was just a crazy experiment, but I'm still worried, House. And now that Stark's dead, I just wanted to be sure everything was okay."

"Even if I hadn't done it, we wouldn't have figured out that he hadn't taken the pills until the dog died, and that would've been too late to help Stark." House glanced back at the morgue one more time. "Poor bastard – what a life." House turned away from Wilson and starting walking down the hallway.

"Wait," Wilson said, as he fell into step beside House. "Did you fire the girl? She looked devastated when she passed me a minute ago."

"No, I didn't fire her. That's not why she's devastated. She knows her mistake killed the patient."

"You're giving her another chance after this? Why? It's not like you don't have other good candidates left to pick from."

"She's a bright kid. She came up with the right diagnosis very quickly. Yes – she screwed up, but she's devastated, and that's a good sign. This mistake's gonna stay with her a long time, and she'll be a better doctor if she never forgets it happened."

"Any of them would've been upset by it." Wilson answered.

"She's more than upset, and she should be."

"Are you more than upset?"

House looked away, and then replied, "I've been through this before."

"That doesn't answer the question."

"Then it doesn't need to be answered. Look, Wilson – I don't know what to tell you. What do you wanna hear?"

"Oh, I don't know. Just that you're not suicidal, I guess. Nothing important."

"I told you…"

"I know what you told me. And I know about your insane compulsion to get answers to the riddles of life, whatever it takes, but I can't help feeling like you really didn't care if you lived or died, and that's scary, House. Just scary. Do you ever think about how your actions might affect other people?"

"I suppose that wasn't the main thing on my mind at the time."

"Obviously."

"Okay, I'm sorry for putting you through the worry."

"For the third time."

"Yeah, for the third time. But the first two weren't my doing, so you gotta give me a pass on those."

Wilson saw a grin slowly forming on House's face, and couldn't resist smiling back. "Okay," Wilson said. "You get your pass. Just tell me you won't give me a heart attack and send me to an early grave with another lunatic stunt."

"Lighten up, pal. You worry too much."

"And you don't worry enough."

"Well, then – we balance each other out. A great, symbiotic relationship, wouldn't you say?"

"I'd say… you don't wanna hear what I'd say. Let's go eat."

"Okay, I'm buying."

"What's the occasion?"

"I owe you one, to make up for the worry."

"I'd rather be broke from paying for every meal you eat the rest of your life, and never go through that again."

"Ah," House said. "There's the rub. I can't make promises like that, and neither can you. We're all mortal, Wilson."

"Yeah – but that doesn't mean we should rush the inevitable."

"Okay – I will do my utmost not to rush the inevitable."

"Scout's honor?" Wilson asked.

"I was never a scout. Moved too often."

"Just say 'scout's honor', and I'll let it go."

"Oh, for cryin' out loud! Alright, 'scout's honor.' Can we leave now?" House asked.

Wilson grinned. "Yeah. Now I'll be able to digest my food."


End file.
